Why sales funnel automation is critical

Moving a customer through your sales funnel can be a time and resource-consuming process. The sales funnel has multiple stages that a customer has to move through, which requires a lot of time-consuming manual tasks, which can make a business’s efficiency and productivity lower than expected. Each stage of the lead funnel can be automated, and businesses will gain big benefits from this. In this article, we will look at how to automate your lead funnel and why it is so beneficial to businesses.

What is the sales funnel?

The sales funnel is the process that a potential customer will go through as they move towards making a purchase from your business. The usual stages of the sales funnel are as follows:

1. Awareness – When the customer first becomes aware of your product. This is the lead generation process of the sales pipeline.
2. Discovery – You make first contact with the lead and attempt to qualify them.
3. Evaluation – An offer is made to the customer; they are now an opportunity in the sales pipeline.
4. Intent – Negotiations begin which leads to a final proposal. This is when you agree on a deal with your customer.
5. Purchase – Quotes and sales invoices will be made to finalise the purchase for the customer.
6. Loyalty -The stage that a lot of businesses may overlook. This is when you keep in contact with a customer once the purchase is complete, building a long-term relationship with your customers will improve customer loyalty.

During a sales process, a customer will be moved through each of these stages of the sales funnel.

Why should you automate your sales funnel?

Processes in your sales funnel can be time-consuming for sales representatives, with there being multiple manual tasks that need to be completed at each stage of the sales funnel to win a deal. By adopting automation for your business’s sales funnel, the processes that need to be completed to win a deal will become much more streamlined and efficient. This section will look at how automation will help every stage of the sales process.

The awareness stages

The awareness stage of the sales funnel is the lead generation stage. This is done using communication channels like social media, emails, and cold calls. Customers are identified as leads who could be interested in the product or service you are offering. This stage can be difficult with 37% of marketers finding that prospecting leads are the most challenging task they do, shared by Autogrow.

Automation software will streamline the process of acquiring leads by:

• Automatically collecting details on clients for your business to analyse – Get a better understanding of your customers
• Focus your marketing – Discover what communication channels are generating the most leads and focus your resources on them

The discovery stage

The next stage of the sales process is arguably the most important, the discovery stage. This is where your sales team will respond to a lead to initiate a discussion about how you can help your potential customer. First impressions can mean everything to a customer, so it is important that in this stage you create a good rapport with your client and show your value.

Automation will enhance the process of your discovery stage by:

• Automatically assign your leads to team members – When a lead is generated, it can be automatically assigned to a team member, improving the response time for your business
• Prioritise the right leads – Your sales representatives can see details on clients to know which customers they should prioritise for your business.

A report by Path highlights that if you respond to a lead within the first 5 minutes, the chances of you qualifying the lead increase by 21 times, with 25%-50% of leads going to the business that responds to them first.

The evaluation stage

This stage of the sales funnel is when the client has been qualified and is now an opportunity. During this stage, it is important to know your customer well and send an offer that will keep the customer engaged in your product or service.

Automation streamlines this stage by letting sales representatives:

• Attach notes to clients – Share important information by attaching notes to clients for team members to see

The intent stage

Negotiations will now take place between the client and the business to come to a final conclusion. Negotiations can take a long period of time to complete, and you must make sure you consistently follow up with your clients when communicating with them, as Yesware shares that follow-ups increase the chances of being responded to by 25%.

Automation software will streamline this stage of the sales funnel by:

• Kanban-style pipeline management - Quick and easy drag-and-drop management of your stage of the sales funnel
• Improved data visibility – With improved data visibility, make seamless insightful decisions for your business 

The purchase stage

The purchase stage of the sales funnel consists of creating sales invoices to finalise the payment details to complete the purchase. During this stage, creating sales invoices can be a time-consuming process with there being a high risk of human error.

Streamline your purchasing stage with automation by:

• Use custom templates – Increase the speed of your quote and invoice processes using custom-made templates to suit your business and clients
• Reduce human error – Reduce the chance of a costly mistake happening with a streamlined purchasing stage

The loyalty stage

This stage of the sales process is the reason for renewals and repeat orders which creates a steady revenue stream into your business.

Automation will help your customer loyalty by:

• Automatically set up renewals and repeat orders – Automatically set up renewals, repeat orders and reminders to make sure you continue to give your customers the best service possible

Automate your sales funnel with TEB

TEB is a sales automation CRM software that can completely transform your business. Your entire sales funnel can be automated with TEB, reducing the number of manual tasks your team members have to do and allowing you to increase your productivity and efficiency. TEB provides key features such as:

• Automate your sales funnel – TEB allows you to purchase different packages to automate the areas of your sales funnel you need with different budgets. E.g., purchase the lead management package to automate that area of your sales funnels.
• Automatically assign leads to team members – Improve your response times to customers to increase the number of deals won.
• Understand the requirements of each funnel stage – Customisable tasks are able to be attached to clients at each stage of the sales process to give you a better understanding of how to progress.
• Automatically create orders – With TEB you are able to set up automatic orders for clients completely streamlining the end processes of your sales funnel.
• Create your funnel – Create new sales funnel stages for your business to completely tailor your processes to your unique requirements.
• Kanban-style pipeline management – Find a new level of efficiency with easy drag-and-drop management of your pipelines.

If you would like to learn more about how TEB is able to completely streamline your sales funnel through automation at every stage, get in contact with us here.